Preparing for worship – Lindsay Bruehl.
I love when we sing our Affirmation of Faith with the words written by LeAnn Hampton. All the words in the doxology speak to my soul on a deep level, especially the line, “and healing triumphs over pain.” Wilshire has helped me heal these past four years. I came to this church in deep pain in November 2017. I had no idea how deep the pain was until I felt the love of this beloved community. Safety, stability and time are necessary for a trauma survivor to feel their pain and get to the healing.
The actor and singer Billy Porter was on Stephen Colbert’s show recently. His new memoir is called Unprotected. He talks about the hard work of healing. The book was mostly written during COVID because COVID gave him the time to do the hard work of healing his trauma. He found healing through the power of art. He went to trauma therapy, faced old stuff and excavated demons. He said he now feels joy like he has never felt before. He wants to share his story to help free others because it set him free. When he was asked what inspires him artistically, his answer was this: the truth.
This is what Wilshire has helped me find. The truth. The truth about myself and the truth about who God is and how God feels about me. I have never felt joy like this before. This is why we need churches like Wilshire to continue in the future. There are so few places anyone can go and feel safe enough to heal. Just like Billy Porter says, our healing is never just for ourselves. It is for everybody who longs to be set free. Our key to survival, both personally and as a community, is becoming our truest and most authentic selves — discovering who God created us to be and living into that.
I love all the ways Wilshire uses the art that resides in all of us to tell the truth. Healing has triumphed over pain for me. And I want to help others get to this place too.